Tag: converts

Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine: Why I Became Orthodox

On today's episode of my American Orthodox History podcast, I discuss Fr. Ingram Nathaniel Irvine, a famous Episcopal priest who converted to Orthodoxy under St. Tikhon in 1905. We'll have lots more to come on Irvine, but for starters, here are his seven reasons for converting to Orthodoxy. This is...

Language in American Orthodoxy, 1916

As you might expect, most American Orthodox parishes in 1916 used foreign languages. From that year's Census of Religious Bodies, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, we find the following unsurprising information: Both of the Albanian parishes used exclusively Albanian. The four Bulgarian parishes used Bulgarian and Slavonic. The 87...

The <strike>First</strike> Second Convert Orthodox Bishop in America

2019 UPDATE: Years after I wrote this article, I learned about Stephen Dzubay, who converted to Orthodoxy from the Ruthenian Catholics and became Orthodox, being consecrated in 1916 to head a Carpatho-Rusyan diocese under the Russian Metropolia. He is therefore likely the first convert bishop in American Orthodox history. Like...

“Indirect Conversion of Thousands Theory”

Over at Orthodox Wiki, they have an entry on Fr Raphael Morgan, the first black Orthodox priest in America, whom I discussed last week. In the Orthodox Wiki entry, you may find the following: "Indirect Conversion of Thousands" Theory During the 16th Annual Ancient Christianity and African-American Conference, Matthew Namee...

The First Black Orthodox Priest in America

On today's episode of the American Orthodox History podcast, we're running a lecture I gave at the Brotherhood of St Moses the Black conference in Indianapolis at the end of May. The subject is Fr Raphael Morgan, the first black Orthodox priest in America. The text of the lecture is below....

The Failed Mission of Fr Stephen Hatherly

From 1870 to 1883, Fr Nicholas Bjerring was pastor of a Russian Orthodox chapel in New York City. Bjerring was a convert from Roman Catholicism, and he basically operated an "embassy chapel." He held services for Russian and Greek officials stationed in America, he ministered to the few Orthodox Christians...